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The average business commercial payment time frame is currently around 60 days, a statistic which has steadily increased over recent years. A business trading on credit terms with other businesses, will over time accumulate a substantial asset on its balance sheet called Accounts Receivable, or Trade Debtors.Debtor Finance is a broad description which describes a type of finance which uses trade Receivables as security for a cash advance. In technical terms there are a variety of legal models for debtor finance. In some situations it is structured simply as a loan, with the Receivables asset acting as security, much like a home mortgage.On the other hand, factoring usually involves legal ownership of the debts passing to the financier, possibly on an undisclosed basis – i.e. the debtor is not informed – or more often fully disclosed where the debtor is made aware of the financing arrangement.When debtor finance is in the form of a debt factoring arrangement, the cash advances available can be flexibly adjusted according to a percentage of debtor sales which provides a high level of convenience for a business which is expanding, and needing more cash to do so.Security Requirements of Debtor FinanceAll debtor finance arrangements carry some security requirements, firstly directly over the Receivables, but also possibly (less desirable from the borrower’s point of view ) supported by collateral assets and/or personal guarantees.As with other forms of credit which are linked to the value of the underlying security the amount borrowed or financed will depend on the asset values. Typically debtor finance funding is permitted for about 70% to 90% of the value of the debtor invoices.Advances and Cash FlowsA factoring arrangement which involves the financing of the entire debtors ledger, can effectively operate just like an overdraft. This means that within the overall financing limits, and taking into to account such factors as bad debts when they occur, the borrower can effectively draw and repay any amount at any time.Smaller financing arrangements which include Invoice Finance or Invoice Discounting arrangements will generally split the financing into two cash flow lumps:
The first lump is the advance, for 70% to 90% of the invoice value
The second lump is the balance, from which the financiers recovers fees.
Each financing method has its pros and cons. Financing the entire debtors ledger will usually involve some contractual commitments for a period of time, at least 6 months, often a year or more. Invoice finance on the other is generally shorter term, and may not require a fixed term commitment. Invoice finance be very flexible when used on an ad hoc basis, helping to keep costs down, but closer monitoring of actual cash flows would normally be necessary.When Is Debtor Finance The Best Option?Debtor finance is most useful for a business which has relatively long cash conversion period, when compared to the cost of its major supplies. This is best explained by way of example: Simplistically if a business has to pay all its bills in an average of, say 21 days, yet the settlement terms of most of its customers are 45 days or more, then expanding the business will always absorb more cash than is available from the business in the short term.This kind of cash flow stress most often arises in manufacturing companies, wholesalers and labor hire companies; in effect any business where the cost of sales is made up to a large extent by labor costs, and/or inventory.If other sources of finance are not available, or are more expensive, then reaching into the company’s balance sheet for a debtor financing arrangement can release cash to the next project or job, while valued customers can still take advantage of their normal payment terms.

First there are the captive finance companies. Think of them as the financing arms of all the major manufactures. They exist solely to provide financing to the public in an effort to sell their trucks. In the past they have been somewhat liberal in their underwriting criteria and like the mortgage industry perhaps too liberal. This relaxed underwriting of the past has caused serious defaults today. This has resulted in a subsequent tightening of credit. The end result is the selling of less trucks and trailers; customers have a harder time getting financing. Nonetheless, the captive financing company will always be part of the commercial truck financing game.Second are the independent financing companies. They are not tied to the manufactures in any way. They exist to make a profit from financing commercial trucks and other equipment. They can be a welcome alternatives for several reasons. First they can be someone to turn to if a good credit customer is “tapped out” with the captives. This means they have already financed trucks with the captive financing companies and they don’t want to do anymore for the customer (at least for now). These “A” credit sources are competitive on rate with the captives and, using different independent sources, a customer can finance an unlimited number of trucks. Independents are great for other reasons too. Say a customer wants a TRAC lease with different parameters than what the captives are offering. They can search for an independent that can tailor a TRAC lease for that customer. This is invaluable for the more sophisticated customer that has tax structure as their main objective. Here’s another one, we have customers calling us all the time that may only work nine months out of the year. They need financing that can offer skip payments. This way the customer can make nine payments a year instead of twelve; taking three months off of making their payments. One last one that hits home with us, the customer with bad credit. A captive financing company generally works only with people with good credit. For the customer with bad credit, their choices are limited. Thanks to independent financing companies (like ours) that specialize in customer with bad credit; these customers can get the financing they need to start or grow their business. Think of independent financing companies as offering financing products that can accommodate almost any need.The third financing arm for commercial truck financing is the in-house financing program. Usually offered by the smaller vendor, in-house financing offers benefits for both dealer and customer. By offering financing in-house the dealer is able to move more inventory than if he didn’t. This is important because a smaller dealer doesn’t always have a captive finance program. And with credit tightening up the independent financing companies are becoming less important. The dealer can act like an independent financing company by offering all the same products while keeping the benefits of earning interest on the trucks they sell. The bad side, of course, is they also suffer in the case of defaults where the customer stops making payments. The benefits to the customer is they have a one stop shop where they can finance a truck at the same place they are purchasing it from. Downside is they are limited to their inventory.This information will help you become a more educated consumer. By know who the players are you can better approach how to finance that commercial vehicle. Good luck!